Time Shifter: Everling to Judgmentos
by Luna Tiger
Summary: revised edition Bioroids get flung into the Era of Reploids to unknowingly carry out the events that will push the current future into existence. Yah yah. Mature themes, language, action, etc. C'mon, you know the story. Chapter 4.
1. 01: To the Victor Goes the Reaper's Spoi...

  
  
**Disclaimer**: All characters belong to Capcom. Blind, Dr. Asaki, and random people thrown in, unfortunately, belong to me. Blind only belongs to me until the very end, where his 'secret identity' is revealed and I must return him to his proper owners. Damn him. 

I'm not making money off of this; it's for entertainment only. Dedicated to the few who have been reading since the beginning, in its wee, tiny existence and to those who... who... um.... ^_^;;; yeah. 

* * *

Chapter 1 

The year: 21XX. 

The period: after the fourth Maverick war. 

Time was slowly ticking away for the beginning of the end. 

The beginning. Where hope would fall from the sky with broken wings in a flurry of scorched feathers, archangels pulled from heaven to aid the war-crested mortals. Such creatures never saw a war they couldn't fathom and this one was too deep in blood and sorrow to grasp the hold on it... and they learned the true meaning of fear and warfare; it was nothing like the petty squabbles they conjured up day after day. 

The end was where their wings grew back and were allowed back into heaven, away from the wails of tears and the ferocious demons that crawled from the pits of hell. Away from the men whose mortal medicine could not cure a diseased companion. Back to God, who could cure all. 

A mere man had brought them down, investing in the sorcery that pulled those angels down by unbreakable chains. He is no Lucifer though, only a pawn, while the true Lucifer sends out his minion to keep the creature who represents his decoy in line. 

And the Devil's Cause has happened. Hell on Earth has lasted for 39 years and the point of the 40th's tip is approaching fast.... 

* * *

"Dr. Asaki?" 

The question rumbled through the hummed silence and ricocheted off the shadows. The mentioned name resulted in the only organic component in the room to stop his programming and swing the chair around to face the darkness all about him. "Hai, 'kage?" 

"The anti-matter has been properly installed like you wanted." 

The shadows shifted and parted as the human nodded. "Excellent. I want you to monitor the entrances and make sure we are not discovered so soon by either the Mavericks or the Hunters." 

"Yes sir." And the voice exited the room, leaving Asaki Kai to finished his interrupted coded sequence. 

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

"Oh, just screw you!" 

Downtown was, yet again, in a state of shambles. Not like it hadn't been previous to the engagement; the officials in the presidential branch of Japan had agreed that only when the Maverick threat was annihilated will reconstruction begin. By that point though, the city was unofficially evacuated, as well as some of the other surrounding cities, as they tended to get caught in the Maverick/Hunter crossfires. 

"You want some more of this?! Come and get me, you stupid iguana!" 

By now, some of those buildings were threatening to collapse. It was stated, shortly after the human population reduced itself to zero, that if your previous home is somehow damaged or destroyed, the government will reimburse you for your losses. Well, even with the proclamation in effect, many people still weren't happy. 

It gave some, when gazing at the empty sea of buildings from afar, the bone-chilling factor of another World War. 

"Jesus, where the he-- You cheater! Get that scaly ass down here right now or I'm coming up there after you!" 

And yet, the only caution given to those currently located within the city limits was to 'beware of falling objects.' What this warning included (but wasn't at all limited to) were chunks of pavement, flying glass, compacted cars, street lamps, human and reploid corpses, and the most common, entire sides of a building. 

About 1/3 of the defaced towers still stood, actually. 

As it was, the commander of the 00 Shinobi Unit lay atop one of these mutilated stacks of metal framing, shoving the dead weight of a new type of Maverick shock-troop off of his person, freeing the energy sabre from its punctured neck as he did so. 

His face was covered in sweat, blood, and oils, which trickled down and dried on his-- "Shit, I just polished this!"-- armor. And his hair.. his hair! was stained good with whatever the heck ran through this creature's veins. 

Zero sneered at the mechanical contraption and spat in its direction, tapping the hilt of his sabre against his thigh. "I told you not to mess with me." 

The lifeless skeleton gave a protest of mistreatment as it sagged against the gravel, never to move again. Zero nodded once and turned away from the lizard, walking briskly to the edge as he tried to forget about what the abomination -did- to his -hair-!... Instead, there was the best distraction money could buy right below him, warding off two more creatures identical to the one behind him. 

He may have been one of only a few pacifist-promoting Hunters, but Megaman X danced when he battled. It may not have looked like it, but Zero certainly thought so. Actually, he'd been noticing a lot about his partner over the many years... probably more than he should have, come to think of it. 

Take X's appearance for instance. For so many years prior to 'That Day', Zero had considered the azure reploid a child in a man's world, too soft and kind to ever be a great hero. But now, he didn't see that child. What he saw was a handsome man, no more innocent than himself, hands bloodied with the deaths of reploid after reploid. 

But unlike Zero, no humans appeared on his tallies. 

The blonde sat himself on the edge, feet dangling about thirty... forty feet off the ground, just watching him. _So gentle, pure, just a butterfly..._

But even the butterfly can change the course of events.. just with the simple flap of its wings. 

_He shouldn't be fighting. He /shouldn't/ be.._ And yet, he fought. He fought like the Devil's minion, with all the grace of a trained assassin. And it pained Zero to no extent. 

_And he let's me touch him._

  
  
  
The lizards were circling him, X keeping his guard up, a scowl on his face as he struggled to keep both in his range of eyesight. One of them-- the 'stupider' one-- was missing an arm. The other acted more cautious, and vaguely, it made X wonder about their programming, if one was more advanced than the other. 

_The first one could be the prime attacking force. The other /could/ be a brain. So, if I took out the brain, how would the other react? Violently? Or lost?_

There was only one way to find out. 

The two lunged once they sensed his shifty movements, the first a fraction of a second quicker then the second one. Reflexes kicked in at that instant, propelling X beyond the reach of extended claws and exposed teeth. One rasped angrily as they nearly collided, but X couldn't tell which one had. 

From that point on, they weren't just batting their prey around, testing to see how much it would resist. It was a total, choreographed assault, keeping the azure-armored reploid constantly on alert as he barely avoided most of the attacks. 

Even without its arm, the first lizard was still very dangerous, refusing to give X the opening he needed. The second one was just as ruthless; X had a charged shot all ready, but couldn't use it until they slowed down, or risked having his head taken off in the moment of stillness. 

_I need a distraction!_

Blessed be, there was a god. 

A sphere of yellow energy drove itself into the ground, uplifting a crater of pavement in a small cloud of debris; it was little more than a meter away from the lizards. They may have hesitated, doing a quick visual scan for their assassinator, but X didn't. 

There was a horrible screeching as the one-armed lizard swerved his head back to its companion, only to find that it was nothing but a headless corpse. With its program rebooting (i.e. it was one hell of a confused machine), X was able to back away, putting roughly thirty feet between them. 

Like a flash, it was back in action, now receiving its commands from a new entity. And its target was at the end of the street... 

X narrowed his eyes, letting the beast close in on him. _Quick recovery time, seemingly smooth radio frequency transfer, and refuses to drop dead. Sigma's getting close to perfecting his army. There's just one defect with these ones._

The lizard leaped, X tightened his defensive stance. 

The lizard reached its ecliptic zenith, X prepared himself. 

The lizard bore down, ready to strike... and X simply gave the machine a grin, releasing the sleeping power within him. 

"_Giga Crush_!" 

* * *

**In the past...**

Blood. 

His chest constricted tightly at the sight. 

The whole lower level of the mall was bathed in crimson, carelessly splattered like wet paint. And the bodies... He choked on a whimper. 

People that ranged from infants to the elderly were everywhere. In parts. The fountain in the middle of the ground floor cascaded clean water into a soggy resting place for torn limbs and partially submerged corpses, the pool as bright as cherry-cola. Many others in the massacre mainly lay on the floor, twisted and mangled to a point where they were nothing but life-size, boneless dolls. 

A few arms and legs stuck out of the dirt in the decorative potted plants along the floor, like poorly kept grave sites, bodies were draped over the railings of the second floor, dolls be positioned, it almost seemed, and a select few were horizontally crucified on metal spikes, piercing the hands, knees, and neck; a child, no more than two, was the only one subject to being pinned to a far wall. 

But the final insult, a derogatory 'craft' project hanging from a line normally reserved for banners. It was a person... only all parts didn't belong to the same person. ...Like a modern Frankenstein.. 

The smell was unbearable, rancid and vulgar. Too real. So unreal. Just... A horrified shivered crept down his mechanical spine. His mind was assaulted by the sight, the smell, --and once his bare hand touched the wall beside him and came back with blood on it --the touch... 

He wanted to run, to curl up in the bathroom, and empty his stomach of the tormenting nausea that dwelt in his belly. But he fought it and took a step forward. 

The floor beneath him rippled, as delicately as a teardrop falling soundlessly into a motionless pond. His eyes fell towards the floor and watched the small, imbalanced waves make their way to a cleared spot among the still chaos. 

His breath caught. 

_Forte_

The ebony machine's profile sat on a seat that didn't exist, an air of tranquility surrounding him. The wings of his Gospel Boost were fused to his back, like the true extensions of his body that should be, and his eyes were closed, his expression....wistful. A shaft of sunlight encased his body, the circumference of the light pushing all things evil away from the robotic angel. 

A sanctuary for all things pristine. 

Fine, pale-gold hair brushed lightly against the neck of the black armor, framing synthetic, ivory skin and those trademark markings raging down his face. 

Silence kissed the air, leaving a void for a few eternal moments before violet-ruby eyes opened. They didn't seem to see anything as they gazed about the room, until they stopped.. 

And stared directly at him. 

_"Ro~ock."_

His pulse quickened as the younger 'bot's voice drifted into his ears; a siren calling her prey out to his death. Never could he imagine how sultry the blonde could sound.. 

Forte frowned gravely as his rival didn't step forward, only stared at him with astonishment in those bright green eyes of his. _"Rock, please. Come here."_

_Across? No Not across the blood Please don't make me cross the floor _

_Please Forte _

_"Rock, you must,"_ he pleaded. _"Here. Give me your hand."_

As Forte's hand reached out, a million things ran through Rocks mind in the blink of an eye. 

_Thats his right hand _

_My right hand touched the wall The one with the blood _

_The light only protects whats inside the circle_

Rock screamed. 

Forte's hand passed through the barrier; his fingers were coated red as they emerged on the other side. 

_Don't !_

But it was too late. The ebony robot retracted his hand, but it hadn't changed. His hand glistened in the sunshine... 

The ray of light began to pull away, too quick for anyone to stop it. Forte's face twisted in fear as the illuminance passed over him; he fell to his knees, pained, like the light stole something from within when it disappeared. 

Rock bit at his lip, as watched as Forte rose his now, helmed head. ...The Blue Bomber gasped. 

Back in Forte's eyes was the hunger for pain and suffering, the monster that thrived on the carnage all around them. Blood leaked out of the jewel upon his forehead, dripping onto his face and staining his skin. 

Staining his soul. 

**It's too late, little brother.**

Rock never turned around to acknowledge the new voice, but a hand was put upon his shoulder, a comfort. 

The scenery began to distort. 

**You don't have what it takes to reform him, Rokku, if you can't face the fear of despair in your private world.**

The setting that was once a shopping mall became a desolate and jagged landscape. Chasms, up lifted rocks like multiple spikes littered the dry, barren earth. Rock turned his head towards his brother, only to find him much taller and donned in strange armor, his scarf tied over his eyes.. 

**But you'll have another chance. One day. ...One day, you'll find your heart beats stronger than your justice, or your fear. Until then, you'll only look on... and watch as Forte destroys everything you've worked hard to preserve. **

**What /I/ worked hard to preserve.**

The brunette tried to reply, but found no voice inside of him. A shriek snapped him back to the current world and green eyes widened in horror. 

Forte was morphing, into a creature that held no bars on the real plane. Hideous, corrupted, deceitful... 

And all Rock could recall of the demon when he awoke were the surreal blue eyes in its head. 

* * *

**In the present...**

Zero tapped the severed torso of the lizard machine, inspecting the... explosive job X had laid upon the unsuspecting creature. "Well... shit, Yakasa. Couldn't have done it better myself." 

X merely gave a slight roll of his eyes at the gleeful commander, shaking his head absently. "You can't do it at all." 

"Your point?" The hunk of useless metal received a swift kick, sending it meters away. Zero sauntered over to the azure-clad reploid, eyeing him. "But really, I thought you told me you wouldn't be reckless with that damn... whatever it is." 

"Feh, I wasn't reckless," said X as he leaned up against an overturned car, slouching some. "Unlike you, I think about what my next move is going to be." 

"Okay, so I improvise." Zero frowned. "And what would you have done if that thing had survived? I can't save you every time you're in a jam." 

X's expression turned indignant. "You have a superiority complex; anyone ever tell you that?" 

"What the hell put /that/ idea in your head?!" The blonde glared at him and leaned in closer, in hopes of intimidating him. 

His desire were shattered. X scowled and pushed Zero away with a hand to his shoulder. "You rescue me from impending doom two or three times-- I have yet to return any of those favors-- and you /constantly/ keep smearing them in my face like you expect me to get down on my knees and worship the very ground your hair brushes against." 

"Oh yeah?" An eyebrow arched sharply. "And tell me, what would you do without me, huh? You would've been dead on only your first mission as ranking commander of the 17th. See, you need me like pretzels need peanut butter." 

X's face was blank for a moment, before a half grin twisted his lips. "Peanut butter and pretzels?" he chuckled. "Jesus, I'm a pretzel." 

"Hey, hey! Don't knock it 'til you tried it, blue boy. Just because you're a freakin' vegetarian who doesn't eat /anything/ but rabbit food, does /not/ mean you can make fun of my midnight snacking buddy!" Zero hmphed. "Ignorant health nut. S'not like you can get /fat/ or anything." 

X made a sound of annoyance, even though he heard the light tone of amusement in his partner's voice. But he didn't reply. Instead, he wandered over to where the discarded torso lay and gave it a thoughtful lookover. Then he tapped a small button on the side of his helmet and held it down. "Dnuthre. Have you engaged those lizards yet?" 

"Engaged and terminated, sir!" came the breathless response. "All four are now scrap metal and Okudo was our only real casualty." 

"How bad?" 

Weary chuckle. "Not bad enough sir, considering he still has use of his vocal chords. Swearing like a sailor and complaining about a lost leg." 

"Then get him to the infirmary and let Aesculapius and those new Lifesavor droids take care of him." 

"Copy. Dnuthre out." 

The link was broken with the release of the button and X found Zero sitting on top of the same junk heap he had been up against. "It takes all the members from the best unit to get rid of four of the lizards, and between the both of us, we can clean off five. ...I don't like this." 

Zero shrugged. "Has there ever been a time when Sigma was capable of winning? God, yes. But!....Has he won during /any/ of those times? Hell no." He motioned with his finger. "C'mere, 'Kasa-chan." 

He hated that nickname. Really, he did. Except no one ever called him that; Zero was the 'barely tolerant' exception. But, he was convinced that if anyone else ever called him 'Kasa-chan', they would be very dead. ... Well, no, first he'd be mortified, and -then- the person would be dead, because he -wasn't- female; he wasn't even feminine looking, for crying out loud! --Wait, what started this again? Oh. Right. Zero. 

Bastard. 

"Don't call me that." But, despite that he was scowling, X marched back to the car and its occupant. "What's on your mind?" 

Zero grinned mischievously as he leaned forward, poking at the tip of X's nose. "You're beginning to owe for certain services, pal. Being your knight in shinning armor, as well as providing backup, is a costly job and friendship is cheap. How do you plan to pay me?" 

Even as a hard glare directed itself at the blonde, a light pink accented his cheeks; X slapped the hand away from his face. "You know what I told you, because I know what your answer was." 

The Shinobi commander snorted angrily and hopped down to the ground. "That was nearly four fucking years ago, X. I don't want to screw random people; I want /you/." 

X turned away from him, folding his arms. "I won't let that happen again." 

"Aie yah!" Zero threw up his arms in exasperation. He grabbed X's shoulders and brought him face-to-face. "/Listen/ to me this time, X. ....I've known you for a little over the length of the Wars, ever since that first day I was activated on Cain's table. We were partners-- we /still/ are-- and that won't change, because we're the best. 

"And seventeen years ago, I would have bet my life we would have sacrificed it all for just one night together. Then that rookie-- what's her name-- Toreno, get's herself caught on a landmine left over from that desert camp. You blame yourself, because you believe that if you had been one hundred percent focused on that mission instead of only ninety-nine percent (the one percent being myself), you would have been more cautious. 

"Four /years/, X. You've become the drill sergent from hell, and only Dnuthre and Yuiko know how to have fun anymore. And let's not forget what /I've/ had to go through..." 

X pursed his lips together; he's heard this rant before and, quite frankly, didn't want to hear it again. "I know. Iris." 

"Damn straight," hissed the blonde, tightening his fingers over the blue armor. "I could very well has lived happily ever after with her, X, and left you behind. I loved her... not as much as I love you, but it would have sufficed. And having to retire her just /killed/ me. 

"You can lose anything when you make decisions, 'Kasa, even when the decision is the right one." 

It was silent, emerald eyes locked onto pools of ultramarine, the latter pleading, the former void of emotion.. 

"Please X. Just change your mind, or even let your guard down again, like you did that one time. ..Onegai..." 

X closed his eyes and grabbed one of Zero's wrists, slowly pulling it away from his body. His jesters gave nothing away, nothing about what was crossing through his mind....-- 

"Gomen nasai, Zero. ....But no." 

Zero's expression fell in pure devastation, as X walked out of his loosened fingers. His heart gained a hairline split down the center when X's back turned to him, cracking with every step that hit the pavement. 

His eyes blazed over in fury. "Goddammit, Yakasa!" he screamed. "One day, you are gonna realize you aren't the hot piece of shit you thought you were! And on that day, you will /crawl/ back to me and /beg/ me to take you back!" 

X didn't even flinch in his strides. 

"You bastard! I'm not waiting for the end of the damn war to be with you! What the hell makes you think either of us are going to /see/ the end of the war, huh?!" 

He was a building away when he stopped; a tiny ray of hope shone down on Zero, instantly growing brighter when X turned around. He desperately wished that he could trap it... 

"Because," he said quietly, but strong enough to still be heard, "you said it yourself. We are the best." 

That hope disappeared, leaving the crimson-armored reploid empty inside, as X fell back into step. But, as empty as he felt, Zero let just the briefest smile cross his face. _That, we are._ But it eased itself away and he glared at the retreating figure, clenching his fists. "That doesn't mean the best always survive!" 

But there was no reply direct reply. Instead, he received, "Thanks for the save, by the way," before X decided that walking was out of fashion and teleported to the vicinity of his unit. And Zero was alone. 

Or so he thought. 

"Commander?" 

The blonde tensed, startled and off-guard, as he swung around to come and face his own second-in-command, the last of her own teleporting wisps faded into nothingness. "....What is it, 'Tori." 

Reitori frowned slightly. "Sir, the threat has been eliminated and I'm reporting back to you." 

Zero sighed with weary and put a hand to his forehead. "Stop being so damn formal, 'Tori. The rest of the Shinobi are back at base, so there's no point with it." 

"But sir--" 

He held up a firm hand. "Just. Stop." His tone left no room for argument. 

Reitori grimaced and gave a respectful bow. "Alright." 

Zero exhaled through his nose and started pacing, agitated. "You didn't happen to hear what I was saying before your TD disappeared, did you?" 

She cocked her head to the side, blue-hair-streaked-silver falling with the movement. "Um, no si-- ah.. no, I didn't. Should I have?" 

He shook his head. "No... Come on, let's go back. I want to hear how the 17th faired against the lizards." 

"Hai. .... Um, sir?" 

Zero's eye ticked. "Didn't I just tell y--" 

"It's your hair.. um, Zero.." 

"My wha?" He looked over his shoulder and grabbed the large pony tail. He had forgotten all about the cleaning job he would have to put into it.... 

"FUCK!" 

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

Two figures observed them, both with worries and the shadows of doubt drawn in their expression at the sight they had just witnessed. 

"Would would have guessed it?" asked the one donned in red armor. 

"Yeah," murmured the one in black, frowning all of his disapproval at the sudden red and white beams of kinetic energy speeding off to the Hunter base. "/X/ is the one who's putting the wedge between them." 

A nervous smile crossed Red's face. "Definitely not the same situation as before. Although blondie's language hasn't cleaned up any." 

"No..." Black closed his eyes sadly and shook his head. "We need to report this back to Blind. He'll know what to do." 

* * *

* * *

Aha! XD Not a happy ficcy anymore, now is it?! I'm cruel. 

I know that, in the games, X could only use 'Giga Crush' while he had the new armor (or in Xtreme 2 game, when you had the body part), but hey, it's my story. =p 

And yes, the missing punctuation and stuff in Rock's dream italics are purposeful. 

_Onegai- please  
gomen nasai- I'm (very) sorry  
TD = Teleportation Device (I'm cheap)_


	2. 02: Live in the Doubt of Yestermorrow

  
  
**Disclaimer**: All characters belong to Capcom. Blind, Dr. Asaki, and random people thrown in, unfortunately, belong to me. Blind only belongs to me until the very end, where his 'secret identity' is revealed and I must return him to his proper owners. Damn him. 

I'm not making money off of this; it's for entertainment only. Dedicated to the few who have been reading since the beginning, in its wee, tiny existence and to those who... who... um.... ^_^;;; yeah. 

XD Oh, I forgot to mention. There's wet skin in this chapter. 

* * *

Chapter 2 

**In the past...**

"I had a nightmare." 

A dark eyebrow arched over a pair of shades. "You called me because you had a bad dream?" 

Rock pouted, picking at the food in front of him. "I thought big brothers were supposed to comfort their siblings, not berate them." 

"I'm not berating you." Blues snitched a fry from Rock, muttering, "God, I hate McDonald's," before eating it. 

"Hey! Get your own." Rock swatted his hand at his brother, trying to ward the Evil Menace away from his meal. "And if you hate it, why did you agree to come here and eat the food?" 

"Because if I didn't," he said, waving about a chicken nugget to emphasize his point, "then you would have dragged me off somewhere that I dislike even more. And I said I hated the restaurant, not the food. So," Blues clucked his tongue and slowly made the McNugget vanish, "what did you dream?" 

Rock puckered his lips in thought, scratching a finger at his temple. "Well, it was strange. For one, it didn't seem like a dream. Yeah sure, it was fuzzy when I woke up and all I could remember was this really... I don't know how to describe them, but there were these...eyes! Definitely not human, but I'm not sure if they were a robot's either. And," he turn somewhat sheepish, "after I stayed up for a bit, I remembered." 

He went on to recall the events of the vision, skipping around the more grotesque details, but generally got the idea across. And Blues sat there, quietly taking in everything he was told like a professional 'listener' should. 

"And, and like I was trying to say before I tripped over the eye thing, it didn't seem like a dream at all. Or even something a person would imagine. It was like... a memory. A very twisted memory. I mean, it felt like... I have really gone through something that.. that...--" 

"That morbid and outlandish?" 

Rock shrugged and reached for his fries. "For lack of better words, yeah." 

"Well," said Blues, kicking back on his side of the booth, "whatever you say it is, it was a dream which might have spawned from your urges to rehabilitate Forte. Nothing more." 

Rock's brow creased with worry. "I don't know... but I keep getting this feeling it's connected to that... swirly disk.. whatzit thing." 

A tiny smile tugged at Blues' lips as Rock flailed his arms. As if that would help his vocab. "Rock, it was no sweat. We were pulled in.. and came out the other side. Nothing happened." 

Rock frowned at his brother. _That's suspicious in itself. Blues was all over that thing at the time._ "Then why were you unconscious when we came out the other side?" 

"What does it matter?" he asked airily. "You're alive, I'm alive, Forte's still a bitch, and the mutts are just dandy." 

"I just..." Rock looked down at the isle floor, putting a hand to his chest. "I just wish you would let Light-san scan you for any irregularities in your system. It would make me feel so much better." 

Blues sighed softly and pushed the shades to rest on his forehead, catching the younger 'bot's attention with the movement. "I have made many readjustments to myself, Rock. If he were to go by my original blueprints,-- that's all he /can/ do-- then he would find a million things different." He licked at his top lip nervously. "Rokku, if there /was/ something wrong with me, I would know it. ...Six days is more than enough time for a problem to arise /if/...there was one." 

Rock's expression saddened drastically; he was having a difficult time believing his brother. _But there's nothing I can do._ "Alright.. Alright. ...I trust you." 

* * *

**In the present...**

The moment X pushed open the infirmary doors, he assaulted by the vulgar shrieks of his underling, half of which shouldn't be repeated by anyone. The busy medical personal swarmed about like ants at an intersection, with the head doctor in the center of the commotion, patching Okudo up as best he can. 

"Dammit, dammit-- Shit! Why the fuck didn't you shut me down, you rat-fucking basta~AAAAH!" X winced and weaved around the Lifesavor, approaching Aesculapius from behind. "So what's the deal, doc?" 

Okudo looked up to the familiar voice and hysterical relief flooded over the slightly pudgy face. "Oh man! Commander, please tell this sadistic asshole to put me under, PLEASE!" 

X raised an eyebrow and looked over Aesculapius' shoulder, ignoring Okudo's cries of pain. The medic was reconstructing the reploid's leg using a mecurial templating laser; the azure reploid grimaced. "Aesclad, if this wasn't your work, I'd be scared." 

Aesculapius snorted, cutting the power to the laser. "All I'm teaching him is to never do something stupid (like get hurt) ever again. Don't get injured and you've learned a very important lesson. Besides," the blonde hit Okudo in the shoulder, indicating for him to pay attention as well, "you're Elites. You should be able to handle the pain." 

Okudo had tears hanging out of his eyes. "Argh! Bullshit, doc!" 

The reploid medic cast a glare at Okudo, putting a delicate hand on his hip. "Would you rather I tear the leg off right now and start to replace it from scratch?" 

The Elite yelped and grabbed at his still-useless leg, shaking his head insistently. Aesculapius grinned evilly. "Good," he purred, before collecting a passing Lifesavor and gave it orders to switch Okudo off and restart the repairs on him. 

And then, he turned to X. "I doubt you came down here just to see how your subordinate was faring under my 'torture'." 

X gave a half smile; Aesclad was always quick. "Can I talk to you somewhere?" 

Faster than X could say 'trousers', Aesculapius hooked his arm into X's and dragged him off to his office. A few of the recovering patients they passed either snickered or gave them bewildered looks. But the sight wasn't about anything their imaginations could conjure up. 

Aesculapius' personal space was as cluttered as a closet and could have been as small as one. X half-lidded his eyes as the doctor closed the door behind them. "I thought you said this place was cleaned up." 

"Nooo," drawled the blonde, depositing his lavender-armored self into his chair. "I said it was cleaner, not cleaned up." 

Snort. "Could've fooled me. This place screams 'bonfire'. Can't you put them on disk?" 

Aesculapius gave a thin smile. "Secret: they are. This is just to discourage people." 

"Like your sadistic tendencies?" 

"Pshaw. Hardly. That's more like taking out my frustration." The mechanical doctor narrowed his eyes. "The Septenary have still refused my request to be transfered from staff to field duty. Their constant excuse? I'm the best damned doctor in this whole facility and that should not be taken away. 

"Of course, with all the complaints they received about /how/ I am the best, I'm surprised I haven't been transfered sooner... or even destroyed, what with all the prescribed Maverick scans I have to take." 

"How many times are you at?" 

"Down to four times a week, yeah baby," he said unenthusiastically. He shoved a stack of papers to the side, a handful falling to the floor; Aesclad disregarded them. Instead, he just folded his hands and placed them in his lap. "So what can I do for you, Commander?" 

X left his spot by the door and sat down in a cheap leather-brown chair, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. "I used the Giga Crush without the armor again." 

Aesculapius quirked an eyebrow, his attention at full now. "I know we talked about this, X. Did your systems overheat like last time?" 

X shook his head. "No malfunctions or anything out of the ordinary." 

"...Odd." The blonde swiveled around in his chair and punched up a screen on his holo-console. With a butterfly's touch, Aesculapius moved the cursor around, accessing a few files. "The only explanation I can give you off the top of my head is that your body adapted and developed around it and synchronized its energy pattern to your bio-signature." 

X gave him a sceptical look. "And I didn't feel this?" 

"Hey," he chided, not even bothering to glance at his patient, "I'm a goddamn genius, hero boy, not a researcher." Aesculapius' face turned sour when he didn't find what he wanted and shut down the holo-console. "Although, that doesn't mean I can't pick up the role as one. I want to scan you for anything that's changed since the last one you took back in October. That alright with you?" 

"When can you pencil me in?" 

"Ummmmmmm..." Aesculapius looked up at the ceiling, mentally running down his list of appointments. "Free tomorrow night?" 

The azure Hunter smirked and stood up. "Not the way I'd imagine a 'first date' would go." 

Aesclad snorted, amused. It was nice to joke around a bit, after four straight days of being the Wicked Warlock of the East. "Just bring your birthday suit and plan to be lying on your back for an hour." 

X chuckled quietly, but remained motionless for a moment. And then softly, he murmured, "I'm glad you aren't a Maverick, Aesclad." 

An eyebrow arched, a thin smile creasing his lips. "And why's that, X-san?" 

"Because," he said simply as he turned the knob on the door, "if you were a Maverick, we'd have something to fear." And he was gone. 

Aesculapius frowned as the door closed and the medic shook his head mournfully. "It's only a matter of time, Yakasa," he whispered. "Only a matter of time." 

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

"Please, Lee-chan," said Alia, looking mildly disturbed. "Everything is going smoothly, which only means disaster is coming closer and closer." 

The voice on the other side of the monitor chuckled. "I find it hard to believe that there haven't been any bumps in the Great Circle of Misery to date." 

"That's what ironing is for," she countered dryly. 

"Well, /someone's/ a little agitated." The figure leaned back in their seat. "Getting a bit nervous?" 

"...I'm a bit skeptical," she admitted. "It's like some big, messed up déja vu thing going on and you know you've never run through it before." 

"Ai-chan, there's nothing to be doubtful about. He said it himself, life will be as it is until the door closes. We have a few days." 

Alia sighed, still not soothed. "And what if I never see you again?" 

"Well, what if /I/ never saw /you/ again? It's a two-way road and you have some risky business on your hands." 

"But I want to be back home!" she cried out, clutching the arms of her chair frantically. "With you and the boys." 

The figure smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry, Ai-chan. I have faith in God that he will make everything turn out right. You've trust him before, with your very life. Don't start doubting everything now." 

".....Alright, Lee-chan. Alright. I'll believe. For you." 

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

The sounds of sprinkling water hitting the floor and flesh, feet slapping against the wet tiles, and random, echo-y chatter reverberating around the sickeningly pale green walls hardly broke Zero's mixed concentration on the horrid mass in his lap. 

His hair-- his gorgeous hair!-- was soaked to the roots in water... and still, the black goo remained. It had crusted now, a sad thing indeed. The hardened fluid had flaked off both of his face and armor, but was bound tightly to each strand of hair like glue. It was almost enough to make a grown man cry. Yes, even Zero. 

_Stupid, stupid--! Dumb, stupid, moronic... animal! I HATE THEM._

His mind raged, but a tiny, tiny part was grateful that he didn't get wrinkly; he had been sitting under the showerhead nearly since he got back in, some few hours ago, in only a small waist-towel. He poked the caked gunk numbly. 

Not even soggy. 

Maybe if he took a sandblaster to it? _No, my hair would be ruined._ A mallet? _Hair would be ruined if it broke off with the shit._ A jack hammer? _....I like a good vibrator like the next person, but that's ridiculous! It could chisel out my hair!_

Zero spat out a few choice curses that caught the attention of a pair of passing humans, who each went wide eyed and took a step to the left, to keep their distance. A cursing Zero is not a happy Zero. 

And an unhappy Zero meant something was going to go BOOM. Very, very soon. 

Zero's expression became grave. He had already tried to break it off with his hands... but whatever the hell kind of nano-fluid that coursed through those lizards' veins wasn't a normal brand, because not even a chip broke off. 

....A suspicious eyebrow rose. 

He was off of his stool in a heartbeat, making his way out of the showers and through the locker room; people literally jumped out of his way when he stormed by and cringed with the force of the door slamming open, along with the cold air rushing in. 

There were two things people noticed as Zero rushed by them, however. One was the dark clump that travelled up to his shoulder like a mountain range on a map. From the tip to almost his neck, it stood out like a stain on white and was something to gawk at. The other thing... 

He was still in his little waist towel and soaking wet. Go figure. 

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

Signas may have been fresh to the responsibilities of a general, but that didn't mean he wasn't ignorant to protocol. So, when X stepped into his office, Signas stood and grumbled, "Durges says that you checked in 31 minutes ago." 

"Well, yeah," said X, clearing his throat. "I needed to speak to Aesculapius right away." 

Signas gazed critically at him. "And Reitori reported in two hours ago, with news that you and Zero had defeated those monsters, and /he/ checked in when she did. Anything I should know, X-san?" 

"Ahh.." X blinked momentarily, then shook his head. "No sir. I... I just wanted to clear my head before coming back. It felt important that I did so." 

Signas nodded. "Alright." He paused before continuing. "Reitori's already given me her verbal. I want your briefing /and/ opinion, considering I'll probably get a more appropriate one out of you than I would from Zero." A quirk of a smile touched his lips. "Begin." 

"Sir. We encountered a number of soulless drones out in section 5-D. Shock troops." And he continued for several minutes, conveniently omitting a few more... personal details that Signas did -not- need to be informed about. The general wasn't the wiser. 

"You didn't happen to bring back a body, did you?" 

X face-faulted. "A.. a body, sir?" 

An eyebrow twitched. "The body of one of the retired lizards." 

Sweatdrop. _......Shoot._ "Erm.. No. No, sir.. The thought should have crossed my mind, but I was plagued with.. other.... thoughts." _Lame. Real lame. ....Can't say I was lying, though._

Signas frowned with skepticism. "It's a good thing that Shao thought to do so, then." 

More sweatdrops. "I'm sorry, sir." 

"You don't have to apologize," said Signas. "This is the first time you've ever been absent-minded, to my knowledge, so I will dismiss it. But X." The Azure Hunter steeled himself. "In the future, I would rather you focus more on the battle and the clean-up procedures instead of going off into another train of thought. You can dwell on whatever's bothering you afterwards." 

_Easier said than done,_ he mused dryly. "Yes sir." 

"Dismissed." 

* * *

**In the past...**

Forte growled to himself, barely low enough to carry five feet down the stone-laced hallway. And as usual, the few metools and Masters in way moved hastily aside to let the glowering robot have the right-of-way. But he barely noticed them. 

_What the flying fuck is Wily thinking?! Twisted son of a bitch... He puts so little into his robots-- lookit Chargeman! Brain dolt-- and yet, he's exerting /too/ much effort into /this/ one. ... Just one. A /girlie/ bot. The type doesn't even have a damn /name/ yet! _

_And blonde. My god, what is with that man and /blondes/?? Half of us are freaking blonde... even the ones who /shouldn't/ be blonde, are blonde. _

_And.. jesus, Wily /must/ be lonely, he's so god damn insane._ His face hardened in disgust, _So fucked up on viagra that he's making his 'perfect weapon' too much like a fucking /woman/!_ He spat. _This is not my day. Not my day, not my day._

He snorted angrily. _With the way Wily's building it, I wouldn't be surprised if that thing were to cry if it were to lose those golden locks of his._

* * *

**In the present...**

Zero took a step back, sheer horror written over his face. "Wha- what??" 

Aesculapius nodded, his expression bleak. "You heard me, Zero. It's got to go." 

Zero choked back a squeak, covering his mouth, as Aesclad continued. "Even Douglas and Burcan agree with me. They need to analyze it, and they can't do that if it's still attached to your head. And you can't operate on synthetic fiber. You've got just one option left... and it's already not a pretty one from where I'm standing." 

"....!!" He was ready to break down and cry. There were two of his possessions he treasured, that were always there, never changing, what he would never sacrifice for -anything-. One was his beam sabre, the same one he's had since the beginning; it spoke volumes of who he was and sometimes, the one witness to horrible crimes committed against humanity. 

The other.... Zero clung to it childishly. "YOU CAN'T CUT MY HAIR!" 

Aesculapius exhaled in annoyance, steeling his eyes. "/Commander/!" Zero stiffened. "You are behaving irrationally and foolishly! As head medical officer of /this/ facility, my orders override all who associate under it, with the exception of the Septenary, Committee of Seven. And I'm ordering you to sit down on this table, stay still, and let me take some shears to your head!" 

From Aesculapius' view, it looked like Zero would comply; after all, he -was- a soldier. But he looked closer... and wanted to groan. 

Zero's lip was trembling slightly. 

_It's about time you grew up, 'Commander'. How this man is one of the forces behind Sigma's defeats is beyond me._ He mentally smirked. _Ah well. Time for the_ coup de grace_, I guess._ Aesclad clucked his tongue and opened a drawer to his right. 

And wouldn't you know it, at the sight of the tiny pair of scissors, the mightiest of all Hunters, one half of the backbone to the entire Japanese regiment, collapsed in a dead faint onto the doctor's office floor. 

Aesculapius' eyebrows shot upwards, intrigued. He also managed to stifle a laugh. "Alright, enough fun and games." He stepped over the towel-clad body and pried open his door just enough to stick his head out. "Unit 12! Call Megaman X down here for me, will ya?" 

* * *

* * *

XDDDDD Am I confusing the living shite out of you yet?! Tell me I am, pleeeeaaassseee! ^_^ I'll take it as a good sign! 

And you know what? If you couldn't tell, I suck at the actual action of a fight. ..... X_x What the heck am I gonna do for the Siggy/X+Zero battle at the end?? *cries* 

Oh, and you might be wondering. o.o This is Japan, right? So why would a bunch of Hunters lack Japanese-ish names (I admit, some aren't real 9.9)? Answer: They're transfer Hunters from different countries. It'd think that with all the bad stuff happening, governments wouldn't mind trading.... o.O like in sports! Players get traded all the time! 

_Rokku- Rock _


	3. 03: Glee for the Doctor Makes for a Cryi...

  
  
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Capcom. Blind, Dr. Asaki, Aesculapius, and other random people thrown in, unfortunately, belong to me. Blind only belongs to me until the very end, where his 'secret identity' is revealed and I must return him to his proper owners. Damn him. 

I'm not making money off of this; it's for entertainment only. Dedicated to the few who have been reading since the beginning, in its wee, tiny existence and to those who... who... um.... ^_^;;; yeah. 

Torture ahoy. 

* * *

**Chapter 3**

  
  
The quiet. It wasn't all it was cracked up to be. In the silence reigns your loudest thoughts, your inner secrets come to light, and the future is right there. 

Soon. So soon, would the nightmare be over. No longer the prophet, the soothsayer, the magic oracle. Just... normal. 

_Or dead,_ said a tiny, cynical voice. _Dead would be nice. Death means I wouldn't have to live through the agony._

"But then, I would have done this.. for nothing. Led to their own demise.. because of something I could not control: my own abduction." 

* * *

**In the past...**

"Tea time!" cried out the blonde joyfully as she burst through the door, carrying a tray of fine china cups and teapot. It never failed to make Dr. Light jump out of his skin in fright. 

"Roll, please," he said, frantically dabbing a handkerchief at his brow. "You should really stop being so boisterous. I'll have a heart attack one of these days." 

"Then you should really be careful to not get so wrapped up in your tinkerings," she countered with a wink. "All I'm doing is unsubtly reminding you that even robotic geniuses need breaks, just like the rest of the human population." 

Light sighed and Roll placed the tray on a nearby table, pouring the tea into a cup and handing it to him, which he thanked her kindly for. Roll took a cup for herself, smiling. "So what's new on the production line?" 

"Oh, nothing much," he said, dropping himself into a chair. "Just an electro-pattern hologram generator that produces a living replicant of a human's mind." 

Roll blinked, tipping her head to the side in confusion. "Really? I though you gave up stuff like that." 

Light smiled weakly around the rim of his cup. "I.... I did. But something inspired me to try this one." 

Roll gave a low whistle. "Well, if this thing does what I think it does, that's..." she chuckled nervously, "pretty high on the scale of machines humans /shouldn't/ invent." 

"No, it shouldn't be. But it's not as if I'm going public with it. The farthest this information will reach is Russia, but only for Serges' opinion and that's it." 

"But Light-san, this hologram.. thingy (for lack of better words) sounds potentially dangerous. How are going to test that it works?" 

A humored twinkle sparked in Light's eye; Roll drank the tea in her cup in gulps to hopefully drown away the realization. "Light-san! No! No, you can't. What if something goes wrong??" 

"Roll, dear," he said, taking her hand. "That's not for a long, long time off. I don't plan on taking that plunge any time soon." 

She breathed. "Good. ...Good." And she poured herself more tea. 

* * *

**In the present...**

Every country had their Mavericks hounding down their backs. Commanders, sub-commanders, minions, pawns, knights, whatever you could name, at least one of them existed in the lower ranks of the Maverick terrorism. They were either loyal to Sigma with the promise of bloodshed on their hands, or infected with his viral data, twisting and contorting their programs until they are nothing more than soulless drones. 

Every country had a army of men and reploids at their fingertips. The matter itself was a delicate one, as every reploid had to be carefully monitored for any signs of betrayal or contamination, both having happened in the past decades. 

They all had their champions per side; France cracked around the explosive force between the Hunter Gaeton and Maverick rebel Shirmadon. Amazonian goddess Hypolita with her 'tribe' guarded South America from the wildcat-armored Maverick, Lynx Chang. And Japan had the ones recognized by the rest of the world: Megaman X and Zero. 

But Japan was the country everyone knew was stressed with responsibility, as Sigma made no secret to what area of the world he was in. The trouble was pinpointing him exactly, and that had yet to be accomplished. 

Sigma was powerful, yes, but sometimes.. sometimes it seemed... that there were others pulling the strings. That they were all puppets on a stage for the amusement of someone else. 

In time, however, the strings would be cut for good and the puppeteer left to reveal his deception. 

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

"Be alert. You have ten minutes to get the designation points before they fall to Earth. 

"Yes sir," said Aster, his fingers flying swiftly over the console before him. "Vlade will recover subject II for you, while Dynamo observes subject IV, and I will recover Dynamo, as well as subject III, inform him, and make sure the pieces fall together correctly, when and where they should. Just hope that machine works the way you say it should; I've believed in redemption for too long to have it crumble to pieces before my eyes." 

A bitter smile. "The cycle hasn't ended yet, Asterlite," Aster snorted at the pointless nickname, "and I'll be damned that I'm the one that breaks it. You're losing precious time, gentlemen." 

The screen clicked off and Aster swerved his chair around, only to face those he had to address. "You heard him. We go now," he said, standing up, "or we ruin all the blood, sweat, tears, and years we've woven to get this far." 

Dynamo made an unamused sound, turning on his heels to head for the door, and making elaborate hand gestures. "That's the way it goes. Me an' Vlade just get back with news of what the hell is up with our two warring love birds, and we're immediately swept out the door again. How ungrateful." He hmphed, turning his nose up in disdain. 

Vlade snickered and fell along side Aster, tailing Dynamo out of the room. "That's how life goes, especially when your playing the game Save Your Future." 

Dynamo scoffed loudly and Aster gave the red reploid a light, nearly empty smile. "Some future, huh?" 

"Mmm. ...40 years of war, all about to end. Seems almost too good to be true, even if we lose." 

"Which is why," Aster said, "we need to live. To enjoy it." 

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

"A long time ago, a story was written into the fabric of the universe, a mere stitch in a woven tapestry. It spoke of a man who would save humanity on a tiny mudball of a planet. But then tragedy fell upon him, as he was stripped of his beloved." ....Cackle. "Ooooo, you have no idea how much I am getting off on this!" 

Zero's eye ticked and he turned his head to glare threateningly at the (currently) fox-eyed medic officer; Aesclad ignored it. 

X shook his head in irritation at the idiocy of it all. They had been shuffled into a sound-proof operating room-- "I will /not/ have you waking up my damn patients if you decide to sob like a baby during this.... delicate procedure."-- the second X had stepped into the wing, a pair of plain grey sweatpants and matching t-shirt stuffed under his arm for Zero. 

The room was full of equipment for humans. Unlike reploid surgeries that can be done anywhere, as they aren't messy (unless you cut a tube) and likely to make someone sick, humans were high maintenance even when they didn't mean to be. The room was padded, just in case a casualty couldn't be put under soon enough. 

And now, Zero sat on the very table that a human was sliced up on, his hands clutching the edge so hard his knuckles were white and his feet playing footsie with each other out of apprehension. Aesculapius was having too much fun, trying to make the atmosphere of grief, misery, fright, hesitance, nervousness, mourning, et cetera, last as long as possible. Easily, he accomplished it. 

Donned in civilian attire, X sat in lazily in a metal arm chair across from his friend, temple against his knuckles, and casting the illusion of discontentment and uncaring. But inside, he did feel pity. The brunette knew first-hand how much Zero pampered his gold locks, from the care products that could be found in his toiletry duffel to the ebony-stained, ivory-handled combs he kept locked away from all prying eyes. 

_Not to mention I used to love running my fingers through it,_ mused X sadly, his expression betraying no thought that crossed his mind. 

"Alright then!" Aesclad burst out gleefully, the snipping of cloth shears rebounding through the small enclosing. "Let's get started." 

The fair-haired doctor ignored the whimper from his victim, and hardly wasted any time chipping away at the artificial fibers, but savoring every bit of anguish the Shinobi emanated; he even began to hum the song stuck in his head since that morning. 

X frowned in sympathy, but with Zero's eyes shut tight and Aesclad submerged into his own sadistic world, no one noticed. What he should been doing was holding the blonde hand in comfort and acting the role Aesculapius had summoned him for. Instead, he remained as is, staring at them both with a piercing gaze and as still as a marble statue. 

Metal began to crunch beneath Zero's hands as Aesclad reached the mid-point, and X finally gave in, leaning over to grasp onto his friend's wrist, hoping to coax it away from damaging the table any further. It let go without a hassle and the hand twisted around to grasp X's firmly; Zero hardly moved otherwise. 

"Almost done there, cherry boy," chirped Aesculapius, taking the last few cuts as slow as possible. "And when I'm done, you might as well go flop into a pod instead of that bed of yours-- why do you two even have beds? You're hardly the types that need them--; you're looking somewhat fatigued and you could use the recharge." 

Zero gave a short, bitter laugh. "Yeah, sure Doc, whatever." 

"Hey hey, now." Aesclad leaned over Zero's shoulder, smirking. "Doctor's orders are /law/, 'sir'. You don't follow them, you can be suspended-- Ooooh!" He was looking down at the joined hands, eyes sparkling in mischief. "Is this why you suddenly got an attitude problem? If it is, I probably should've left X to whatever god-awful paperwork he was working on, if not then just to make you more cooperative." 

Zero turned his head to growl at the intruding figure (he -was- getting a piece of his best friend, after all), but received a sharp thwap to the back of his skull for even moving a millimeter, and Aesclad retreated back to finish the job. At the same time, X paled, his fingers slackening, but Zero refused to let go. "Ano.. Aesca-san..." 

Aesclad snorted good-naturedly, taking X's embarrassment for something else. "What? If you think I'm implying that your a pair of gay lovers or something, you couldn't be more wrong." The last cut was made and Zero felt light headed. Aesculapius turned fox-faced again and happily tucked the huge tail of hair into a metal, storage case. "But if you asked me, you two would make a daaa'ling couple." 

X flushed bright red. "Ae-Aesculapius!" 

Aesclad only grinned. "Just stay here and comfort this injured shell of a man. ...Or leave, I don't care. I need to take this," he indicated the case, "to Burcan and Dougy for analysis. Be back in a few." And he skipped out the door, pulling it shut behind him without another word. 

X kept his eye on the for a spare second, skeptical of Aesclad's claims and, if anything, a touch paranoid that he'd burst back in there and try to catch them kissing...or something. People were strange like that, and if Aesclad were one of them, he was to be very disappointed. 

Out of eyesight, he heard Zero shift uncomfortably and X recast his eyes back to his friend. .....Were he anyone else, X might've found the uncharacteristic vulnerability in the other Hunter arousing; having the defenses of an S class Hunter drop to the dirt were the same chances of a reploid getting infected with the human's 'common cold'. 

But X still felt nothing but sympathy, and lifted a hand to brush back a now diminutive lock behind an ear. "It's not that bad, Z. We can go get you a professional cut later, if that's okay." 

Zero mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like a whine. X cocked an eyebrow. "Louder." 

"...I want ice cream." 

With an uneasy smile and a chuckle to boot, X stood up, taking both of Zero's hands into his and guiding the blonde onto his own feet. "Yeah, I can imagine. ...C'mon, lemme take you back to the room." 

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

"Major Osameru!" 

The woman in question's head snapped up to the alerted officer's direction, hurrying over in stiff, controlled strides. "What is it, Sergeant?" 

"We have five irregularities hanging over the outer edge of the city." 

"'Hanging'?" 

"Yes, ma'am. The energy they're emitting is scaling off the charts, like the TDs, except...." The reploid sounded stumped. "..bigger. But the flux relay shows they only have a six foot diameter." 

Osameru growled at the monitor's calculations and whipped around to face the backs of other spotters. "All personnel who are currently not overseeing one of the units, I want these things under observation, now! And I want the 18th to act as a medium standby!" 

"Ma'am, something's happening!" 

"I'm detecting litho-titanium shells dropping from each signature." 

"Are they bombs?!" 

"No sign of explosives in any of them." 

"Major, they've reached ground zero!" 

Silence. 

Osameru's heart stopped momentarily, waiting for the heat scanners to rise and reveal the makings of nuclear war... But seconds turned into minutes and she resumed command again as fluid as mercury. "Units 18 and 11. Get them out there to each of the five points, now!" 

* * *

**In the past...**

"Dr. Light?" Roll watched as the english scientist frantically busied himself with locating an electrical pattern of a reading on screen. "What's going on?" 

"I'm not entirely sure," replied the elderly man, barely taking his eyes off the giant monitor. "A high flux of energy appeared in a local area, but away from populated residences. If I were an expert on behavior of bizarre occurences, I'd say /this/ was odd." 

"Could it be Dr. Wily?" inquired Roll fearfully. 

"I don't-- Do me a favor and scan for any humanoid bio-signatures around the flux in a mile diameter." 

Instantly, the girl pulled up a rolling chair and swung herself over to the instruments on Light's right. With practiced ease, every wire was inserted into her neck and ears and she closed her eyes, willing herself to relax. The first thing to appear in her memory banks was a crude contour map made of dots and lines, fed to her from the dish atop the laboratory. Accessing the programs for Creation, she was able to pinpoint three signatures, two in combat-- to the south of the flux-- and a third farther north. Library records indicated that Forte and Rock were at it again, and Blues was closing in on the flux. 

Dr. Light received the answer to his request in 2.758 seconds. "The 'trio' are in the quadrant. Coincidence? It can't be." 

Mentally filing the information, Light refused to waver from his analysis. "Contact Rock." 

_The benefits of being a machine. ... _**_Port terminal A, five by five no peace on earth, hail the knight and his horse, surrender to Atlantis. Control point dash-zero-zero-one to dash-zero-zero-two, dial up and connect._**

The response was lightning, if not emotionally strained. [I'm busy, Roll!] 

In her trance, Roll's face scrunched up. _How rude._ [There's a situation in your area and I'm not talking about your daily scuffle. An alien energy mass has penetrated reality!] 

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

From where Rock stood, he crashed with a flail; he avoided Forte's attack out of sheer luck. His tone rang of disbelief. [Come again??] 

[You heard me, Rock. Big energy flux not even 40 cliks away from your current position. Don't you feel it?] 

[If you don't go away--] Rock barely managed to roll out of the way from the ebony robot's follow-up move and changed his tactics from 'retaliate' to 'defend'. [--I won't be feeling anything except Forte's /fist/ through my che-- What??] 

[Rrrrruh! Men. Stop focusing on Forte and concentrate on the north!] 

Rock blinked. "...." _...._ [.....] ....What? 

[...Blues is there.] 

Okay, that much cleared his battle-fuddled mind. His eyes brightened and a huge smile broke on his face; he spun to face the north, stars in those blue eyes. "Oniisama!" 

Obviously, Rock wasn't the only one to become distracted. "Yeeaaaa--huh?" There was a crash of metal against earth and Forte's body slide into view beside him, face down in the slightly damp dirt. Rock looked down at his fallen opponent and tapped the crested helmet with his foot. "Oi, Forte-kun, you alright?" 

A grounded hand curled into the dirt in frustration and Forte quickly got to his feet, spitting grass and soil out of his mouth. He sneered. "Does it look like I'm fucking 'alright' to you?!" 

Rock rolled his eyes, then licked his thumb and reached out to clean off Forte's now baffled face. "There. All better." 

Forte stuttered, choked on god knows what words that he wanted to speak. On one hand he was insulted and outraged at Rock, for daring to treat him like a disgusting human child. On the other.... he was slightly curious as to why Rock would touch him at all, let alone-- His face twisted in indignation. "HEY! DON'T TOUCH ME LIKE THAT." 

So much for indecision. 

But Rock merely shrugged off the outburst; Forte may be lethal and dangerous, but time after time-- this being the final straw-- only proved that the black robot, while slightly advanced, was no match for the original. ...Even if Rock normally survived out of dumb luck. But for a moment, Rock was silent, looking up into the sky. Then, he turned back and asked casually, "Hey Forte, Roll wants to know if Wily's experimenting with energy masses. Is he?" 

Anger clouding his judgment, Forte growled and folded his arms. "'Course not," he spat. "The old coot's been busy with other shit." 

"Oh yeah?" Rock smiled expectantly. "Like what?" 

"He's building this robot that's-- **HEY!**" Forte flailed; he didn't like how Rock was trying to con information out of him... Didn't like how he was volunteering it out either. "SHUT UP YOU LITTLE FREAK I'M GONNA KILL YOU ONE OF THESE DAYS SO DON'T TREAT ME LIKE A FOOL-- Where you going??" 

The blue bioroid gave him a look that spoke, 'Isn't it obvious? Something else's come up.' "I have to go check something out for Dr. Light and Roll. You can stay stay here if you want and keep screaming your head off, but I've got other things to do." 

Forte stared, then grumbled some expletive and hurried to fall into step beside him. He was still sour-faced and tried to remember exactly what started this stupid exchange of words. "What about your damned 'oniisama'?" 

Rock's face turned back into its expression of heavy adoration and Forte recoiled from the horror of its purity and disgusting sap. "He's out there, near where we're headed. ...Wait." He blinked and looked around them. "...Where's Rush and Gospel?" 

The cobra-crested bot collected himself, then snorted, continuing in the initial direction with a stride of determination. "Probably napping. They'll find us later." 

Rock smiled lightly at Forte's back, almost shy to follow. Maybe, just maybe, Forte could be turned around. ...And be his friend again. 

"Hurry up, 'Rockman'! This is your damn thing and /I'm/ not gonna go with this if I don't have you to blame it for later on." 

So began the Loop of Time. 

* * *

**In the present...**

Aesclad handed the case over to the ursanine female, smiling chipperly as the Russian reploid took it from his. "Nice dealing with you, Burcan!" 

The 7'5" woman merely curled her lip back; how such delight annoyed her. "Go back to your dungeon, sadist," she said in a very thick accent (it was almost impossible to understand her). "I'm sure you have a few victims waiting for your torture." 

The smile wavered, and Aesclad's fists clenched. "Please, m'dear, you wound me so." But he did as she said and exited the largest room of the north wing. Once his back was to her and all other witnesses, his expression dropped into a dark scowl. He had prayed to run into Douglas first, but obviously someone in heaven liked him as much as Burcan did. 

Burcan was one of the few who didn't cower in terror at his passing. Yes, his reputation was meant to scare them, to keep their minds sharp on staying uninjured and forcing them to fight for the win. But Burcan... she scared -him-. 

Because she was constantly suspicious. Because she was clever and observant. Because she'd once been a willing Maverick. And that gave her the edge over others. 

"Aesculapius." 

Startled, the platinum blonde was knocked out of his reverie by the cybernetic voice and he cursed himself for letting his guard down. He touched a button at the underside of his wrist. "What is it, Shaman?" 

"We need you in the Pit, 3rd block. Something...... bizarre... has happened." 

Aesclad's fine eyebrow rose. Shaman was one who never used the word 'bizarre'. "See you in eight, then." 

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

Ice cream he wanted, ice cream he got. 

Their room was identical to any other dorm on the premises, except for its smaller size. The only double on the entire fourth level of the barracks. But nothing more was different from any other dorm. Two status pods for the reploids (if there were any in that room) and the same number of cots to match the number of occupants. A small chest of drawers with three shelves mounted above it. Nope, no different. Not at all. 

With the secret affair-- but many assumed it to exist in jest-- having come to a halt, there should have been more tension and stress within in walls and atmosphere. But there was hardly a tablespoon. Four years spent trying to respect stationed boundaries and each other, there should have been. But there was none to be found. Days when one or the other wanted nothing more than to crash through the glass barrier between hearts but didn't, there should have been. But there wasn't. 

Now seemed to be an exception. There was tension, taunt yet unpainful, and respect for a promise had been thrown into the howling wind as Zero sat cross-legged on his bed, no different his mood since Aesclad started the first cut, with X leaning against his back, mildly stroking gold that had once been four feet longer. 

Three styrofoam cups and spoon, trimmed in chocolate, lay quietly in the wastebasket. 

Neither had exchanged a word since the infirmary and fortunately, the trip back had been uneventful. And while this was no grief over matters of the war, it seemed equally important. To both. 

"People've talked about this," murmured the blonde, "behind my back, what it would be like if I ever lost something as trivial as my hair. ...I thought it was stupid, that my hair could be /any/ sort of topic in a conversation." He chuckled bitterly. "And here I am, mourning for its loss. I shouldn't be, in all honesty, because it's ridiculous to cry over a haircut. ..So why doesn't it seem like it?" 

X didn't let his fingers stop their combing as he replied just as soundly. "Because, underneath all that bravado and egotism is a sick and twisted part of you. The part that is flamingly vain over your looks." 

Zero casted a look over his shoulder. "You know," he began, "you really suck." 

X smiled lightly back at him. "I only speak the truth. And you /are/ vain, Z. I've seen your combs and shampoos; hell, I've even used them on you, remember?" 

With a dull pout, Zero nodded. "I remember. ...I'm not vain, dammit!" 

X only laughed quietly. "Whatever you say." 

"You don't believe me." 

"I've known you too long to know what you are and aren't." 

"Don't you think I would know if I were vain?" 

"No." 

"And why not?" 

"You only act as you know how to instinctively, which is why you never put a name to what you are. On the other hand, your audience acts are your judge." 

"People have their own opinions though." 

"Touché, but I think I should have a better idea to who and what you are." 

"So why the sudden urge to throw faults into my face?" 

"Because it's about time someone did." 

"....." 

"Face it, you're vain." 

"God dammit!" 

A chittery beeping saved X from Zero's outrage; the brunette got off the bed and pressed at a panel inside the door's enclosure. The screen above it flickered on to reveal a pale Aesculapius. X blinked, his mind running through every possible explanation for the call. "Aesclad?" 

"If..If it's not any trouble, X, Shaman and I would like you to come to the Pit. It's... very important." 

Green eyes narrowed and his posture changed. "Give me about 15 minutes. I'll be there then." 

The screen blackened and X only shook his head. Thrice the amount of Aesclad that he wanted in one night. Once was frightening enough. But Shaman asked for him too, so that was mostly the curve in the third time... "I feel like I've run all over the base today." 

"Guess someone thinks you didn't run around enough with those.. things." 

"Yeah." He looked up, frowning thoughtfully. "It's probably about them too. Only reason I can think of." 

Zero frowned as well, but under a different emotion. "Except there's no reason why /you'd/ be called down there. Signas, yeah, Burcan or Dougy, sure, absolutely. But why you??" 

X shrugged weakly and reached for the doorknob. "I dunno. ....Look, if you want we can.." his face twisted slightly, "get you an appointment with the barber. Fix up that hack job an' get you all shiny and pretty again." 

The blonde's entire body sagged at the mention of his worst enemy-- right below Aesculapius, anyhow-- and nodded mutely. "Sounds like fun." 

After whispering he'd be back soon, X vanished, and Zero was left alone to muse his life away. With a tentative touch, the reploid brought up a hand to grasp the golden locks for the very first time. They were short, but not short enough that he couldn't eye the tips sadly. Were he human, he'd be wailing about forty years gone down the drain. But synthetic hair -didn't- grow, much to his dismay. And to that, he felt like a piece of him had died... 

On the other hand-- sullen, he combed his fingers through it-- there was something..oddly comforting about this length. Which only made him more upset. 

Only adding to the misery, he missed the ghosting hand that tried to comfort him and the body that'd been slightly pressed against him. He could've forgiven Aesculapius for the fatal blow, if it meant X would've kept there. But nooooo, the same junk pile had to be the one to take his X away again. So, who was to blame? 

_And I know exactly who to blame,_ he thought, thinning his lips. _Watch your back, Aesclad. Once you turn it on me, I will skewer you and taste your blood! .... Ooo, wait, Gravitation reruns are on!_

~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~

If anything, the doors at the end of the tunneling ramp terrified him. Beyond them lay horrors that gave robots of all kinds nightmares. He was no exception; X nibbled lightly on his lip, one hand upon one door, ready to open it, but not ready to face whatever was behind it. 

His heart raced and sweat trickled down his nose. He didn't like the feeling that was numbly swelling in his chest. Not at all. 

With a quick inhale, X stepped through the doors, closer to Hell than ever before. Much to his relief, Aesclad was right there, waiting. He wasn't looking any better, but god knew he held it in better. 

Every step became agony as the pale-haired medic led him forward, despite X keeping his eyes on the ground. However, half way across the basement level area, the numbness began to sting. A subtle wave of nausea swept over him, crashing too quickly to leave behind anything but a mild headache. 

"Aesclad, why am I down here?" 

"They found something," he stated, not even sparing X a glance. "While I was getting the oil sample from Zero's hair, they brought in two... specimens, I guess. Fell from the sky, they did. Five in total, but only two were picked up. The other three vanished into thin air." 

"....So?" 

Aesculapius didn't reply. Instead, he hooked his arm into a blue-armored one-- _Support?_-- and continued to stare straight ahead. But with each step, the stabs in X's chest grew in pressure and pain. He stopped them both. "Wait." 

Aesclad only blinked in question. X grabbed at his chestplate, more specifically, over the area of his modem. "I'm not feeling so hot." 

"Block 3 isn't far, X," murmured the medic, duly ignoring his statement. "I swear, it won't be much longer." And he was leading X again, the azure Hunter having no choice but to follow. Once they were in front of the cubicle, the pain was slipping between tolerable and not. Inside brought no comfort; X couldn't even focus on all the white coats bustling about, couldn't see Shaman in the corner with his wide-eyed expression, but the curtain in the center of the room was in his sights and Aesclad led him to it. 

It was searing and white. X wanted nothing more than to rip the hold on him and run, and accuse all associated staff of conspiracy, but some force kept him rooted to this path, like an iron-shackled command etched into his programming when he wasn't looking. Instead, he did tear out of Aesclad's grasp, but stalked, determined, to whatever was being kept hidden from view. 

He was barely able to open it before his vision began to blacken around the edges. And he got a good look at what lay there, prone and enchanted into sleep, before whatever attacked him became too much and swallowed him into Void. 

_It looked like me. So? Why does it hurt?_

* * *

* * *

^^; I apologize for making the bioroids look like the comic relief, but in all honesty, compared to the future war, it /is/ comic relief. 'Cause here you have one robot against 60 and then you have thousands against thousands, like a /real/ war. It's just silly. 

Besides, the Robot Wars were so much more simpler; why shouldn't they lead simpler lives? 

And I hate trying to keep up with consistency. Yes, yes, X should not be hair-petting (refer to previous chapters if you forgot WHY), but every fangirl to the series knows how important Zero's hair is. Apparently, X knows too. Hence. 

Then again, Zero shouldn't be thinking evil thoughts, then turning around and thinking about missing a cartoon about a boy, in a band, who gets shoujo-eyed the morning after he has sex. Really, Z needs to learn some self control. *huuuummmmm* 

And for the record, I hate how I did that last scene. X\ It didn't seem believable, so I plan to change it later. No worries though, the scene to follow in the next chapter won't have to. :3 

Happy Holidays, everyone! 


	4. 04: I Shall Call Him…MiniMe

  
  
**Disclaimer**: All characters belong to Capcom. Blind, Dr. Asaki, Aesculapius, and other random people thrown in, unfortunately, belong to me. Blind only belongs to me until the very end, where his 'secret identity' is revealed and I must return him to his proper owners. Damn him. 

I'm not making money off of this; it's for entertainment only. Dedicated to the few who have been reading since the beginning, in its wee, tiny existence and to those who... who... um.... ^_^;;; yeah. 

...More people are still reading the old version than they are this one....Wait, is that supposed to tell me something? ;.; *sniff* *feeling very unloved* Spread my Word, people! 

* * *

**Chapter 4**

  
  
This wasn't him. This wasn't how he was supposed to expressed negative emotions. He was strong, fearless. Hell, he bordered on cruel and demanding of pain and blood. He was invincible, unchallenged, and unthreatened by any alien force. 

Yet, Aesclad continued to pace. 

X was to his side, deep in an irreversible stasis coma. The type only a machine can recover from on its own volition; the CPU was in control, and no worldly medic could ever hope to make it forcedly awaken without consequences. And it worried the pale-blonde deep into his nerves. 

They were alone, just him and the shell. Once Shaman's theory held up, he stole the smaller body away faster than a rattler could strike its prey. _Shaman is the sanest,_ looped as a mantra in Aesclad's mind; he needed to convince himself Shaman wouldn't do anything rash. Like split their new plaything down the middle and pick him apart. 

If Aesculapius didn't, the medical officer would've rushed after him, in a crazed frame to protect. ..But doing so left X alone, and all sorts of vultures wandered the Pit; he feared for X's safety down here. 

His internal clock ticked away, as the minutes passed with drudging agony of a man stranded in the desert. He wanted to scream in frustration, choke and die, or even tempt himself into self-asphyxiation. All the white and sterility of the Pit, the anxiousness of Shaman's actions, X's state..... Oh, he dare not leave to face the bigger and more lethal fish who wore the reds and golds of sunset, stalking the outer doors of the inclined plane. He felt suicidal within the Pit, but he also had a reputation to hold. 

Dying at Zero's hands was no way for the Devil's Touch to meet the ethereal maker. 

_Wake up, you stupid bastard!_ he mentally shrilled, wishing to damnation that he could trade in his practice for a mere ounce of telepathic ability. _Wake up wake up wake UP! WAKE! Rise! Sit stand run! Do /something/! Twitch! Convulse! Masturbate, I don't care WHICH, just pleeeaaase! Open your eyes so I can go find Shaman and that new Twilight Zone reject of his!_

However, with the blonde's fury escalating internally, he would never have guessed what X was experiencing on his own, locked deep inside the recesses of his head. No, there was no hint and no clue, on the surface of reality that anything but a stasis was in effect. 

**~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~**

**just a Dream, just an ordinary Dream**

~Where am I? 

_He was floating, held suspended above, below, and between abysses. It wasn't a void however. No, all sorts of colors spiralled across the nothingness, like celestial clouds that enclosed galaxies. It was beyond enthralling, yet he couldn't bring himself to care._

//You're in a memory.\\ 

_His eyes widened at the interruption. Frantically, he looked around, trying to twist his head in every direction at once, feeling as though he'll spot the body of the voice sooner than not at all._

~Who are you?! 

_Nothing replied. He struggled, against what, he wasn't sure. He couldn't tell if his was on his back, on his stomach, standing upright or upside-down, or at some odd angle, let alone tell if he was actually moving when his legs and arms flailed._

//I'm merely a creation.\\ 

~What's going on?! 

**as I wake in bed**

_The scene changed abruptly as it had to start with, and he suddenly found himself on his back-- _ah, direction_-- looking up at his dorm ceiling; he recognized the crack in one of the tiles. He didn't dwell on it, however, and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. A hand behind him kept him from getting to his feet._

//I'd rather you sit and listen.\\ 

_He nearly jumped out of his skin at the butterfly touch and the voiceless command. His posterior nearly found itself on the floor in fright, but managed to hold it together as he took in the invader of his mind. _

_She was drop-dead-gorgeous, a beauty that couldn't be human, an immortal that couldn't be machine. Blonde hair that symbolized wilderness tamed, cat-shaped eyes ensnaring piercing lapis-lazuli irises, petit body wrung with curves that was left undefined by gender standards. Wet-dream material of the highest caliber._

~I'm listening. 

_And she sat down on the opposite edge of the bed, legs crossed and leaning in to close some distance between them._

//Everything you are about to hear is a pre-recorded circuit inserted into your memory before your activation. All that you say and do is the indication of the program's settings.\\ 

~A Stick-file? 

//Virtually.\\ 

~So everything I say has been programmed on the chip to serve as a forced memory? 

//Yes.\\ 

~Even what I just said? 

//Yes.\\ 

~And that? 

//Yes.\\ 

~And /that/? 

//Yes.\\ 

_She was beginning to sound annoyed._

~What about-- 

//Yes!\\ 

_He fell silent. She began._

//This recording is to inform you of your current situation, following the remote impulse of the triggered incident, namely: the completion of your bio-signature realigning itself.\\ 

~My bio-signature? 

_He put a hand to his bare chest, questioning visually._

//Exactly.\\ 

_She literally floated back onto her feet, as though she were a serene ghost... Well, she was, technically, if this was a Stick-file, but he still couldn't help but be in awe of her ease._

//Since you're here, it means you passed out into stasis. And that activated this. ....What made you black-out, can you tell me?\\ 

~You told me why. My bio-signature realigned. 

//But -why-?\\ 

_He opened his mouth... but closed it, trying to remember...remember... He choked as the memory hit him like a solid punch to the gut._

~That boy! 

**and that boy, that ordinary boy**

_Images of the prone blue corpse came unbidden behind her, highlighting her body in the most painfully blissful ways._

//You know what this means.\\ 

~....Rockman. 

//Truths come in so many packages. Yes, he is Rockman, your previous identity. ...The you of another lifetime.\\ 

~How...? Why?! 

//I wish I could tell you, but it's not in the program. Your memory banks were cleaned of any residual Rck.exe files, making you and him entirely different people....with the same heart, as it were. ........Protect him, X. A messenger of God will soon treat you to the answers, if you do not figure them out for yourself when the time is right.\\ 

~Why--...why? 

_Her eyes softened and she shook her head, hair shaking like a beautiful mane of a proud lion._

//Again, I cannot say. ...The file's about ready to end. Prepare to re-enter consciousness.\\ 

_She turned around and began to fade through the wall._

~Hey, wait! 

_She looked over her shoulder._

//Yes?\\ 

~Who are you? What's your name? 

Slowly, she smiled and turned back around, one eye closed and wagging a finger slyly. 

//You'll find out in time. Until then, remember your objective.\\ 

_She pushed the same finger to her lips and offered a kiss to the air. Sparks sprung to life from it, engulfing him--_

**was it all in my head?**

**~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~**

Aesclad leaped a mile when X shot up in the corner of his eye, nearly setting the twittering doctor's off his balance and crashing into a cart to his right. By the time he got himself calmed down, X was already off his table, looking around the cubicle. "Where is he?" 

"Well," grumbled the blonde sourly, trying to shake the jump out of his tortured nerves, "no 'good morning, doctor, how was your hour and a half wondering if I'd ever wake up?' The nerve you have." 

X narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Don't play around, Aesclad. I need to find him." 

Aesculapius scowled, matching and surpassing X's own expression, except X wasn't phased in the least. Well..shite. "Shaman's got him. Don't know where, dunno what for. What's the rush anyway?" A blonde eyebrow arched high. "You faint at the sight of him, now you're like an obsessed man." 

The latter of his words went unheard; X had already began stalking out into the open of the Pit without another acknowledgment toward the medic. Aesclad fumed and hurried after him, latching onto his arm before X began his blind search of the underground basement. 

"What the hell's gotten into you?!" 

X didn't respond, but asked his own question instead. "Which way did Shaman go?" 

A vein popped on Aesculapius' forehead. _He's not listening._ "How should I know?" he ground out. "I'm not his nanny." 

"He took him alone?" 

"Did I say, 'Shaman and company'? No, I said, 'Shaman'!" Aesclad planted himself firmly in X's path, holding him still by the shoulders and secretly praying this wasn't the day X snaps and goes primordial on the entire Pit. "I want answers from you." 

"Later." And with that, X pried Aesclad's hands off his person and slipped around him, and headed in the most random direction possible to pick. In Aesclad's point-of-view, that is. From X's, it was an entirely different outlook. 

A heavy pulse swelled in his chest, rising and falling like a compass needle. As a compass was pulled toward its North, X felt a lure reeling him toward a blind destination. This so-called destination dragged him to the other side of the Pit, through the core and out the other side, to a corridor tucked into a vacant corner. But it wasn't really a corner, and with ten or so zombie-eyed doctors crowding around one door in general, it wasn't truly vacant. They pawed at the steel, lost and wanting of whatever was on the other side of it. And X knew exactly what was on the other side. 

Shaman. 

Quite frankly, the brunette did not care an ounce about the Pit-dwellers, as he shoved them all aside with little force. They were slow to get back to their feet, clawing and flailing like overturned turtles, and X rapped his knuckles sternly against the metal, as if this was only a housecall. "Open up, Shaman! I know you're in there." 

In X's mind, it was taking too long for Shaman to answer him, and was about to repeat himself before the door cracked open. An eerie yellow eye set on pearl met his own, and Shaman visibly sagged in relief. In an eyebat, the margay reploid flung the door open, grabbed X by the collar of his armor to pull him inside, and slammed the metal barrier shut once again. Just in time to prevent the recovered scientists from storming the entrance. 

The contained space, unlike most of the Pit, wasn't hypethral, with a ceiling made of the same sheet-metal that covered the rest of the room; one of the few work areas that dug itself into the ground like a prairie home. X scoffed, managing to fend off an oncoming bout of claustrophobia, the exact opposite feeling one should be getting in the Pit. "Lemme guess. Your office away from your office?" 

Shaman frowned and adjusted the glasses on his muzzle. "You need to calm down, X. Your anger and confusion has more consequences than you think." 

"It's more anger than confusion, doc," he growled. "I /know/ what's going on with me, thank you. But really, I'd like it.../very much/ if you'd spin me a tale about what is GOING ON!" 

A twinge of fright pricked X from the inside, but forced it down; he didn't take any time to wonder just -where- it came from. 

Shaman's tail revealed what emotions he didn't wear on his face, and the hesitant, twitch-ish motions gave away the feline's guilt. "We probably should have informed you once it happened, but at the time, we had no idea." 

"I'm all ears," came the more-than-irritated grumble. 

"Ms. Osameru's surveillance team detected five abnormalities one half of a mile above the city, and from each, one metal object fell to earth. ...The proper teams were dispatched, but three of the sites were bare when they got there. The /craters/ were there, obviously, but no sign of our UFOs. The other two..." He trailed off to clear his throat and loosen the collar of his coat. "The other two were occupied, both knocked unconscious; we're not sure if they were conscious during the fall or not. They could have been out after going through...whatever the abnormality happened to be, or could have blacked out from the impact." 

X's expression melted some, submitting to a new puzzlement. "Two? You recovered two? ...Wait." He paused to look away and run a hand through his hair. "I remember; this is familiar. Aesclad. He, um, he told me something like that, right before this mess. What else was recovered?" 

Shaman gestured to the drawn curtain near the back, across from the long-legged table that served as a desk. "If you can quench your fire with water, my friend, I'll let you--" 

He was cut off by a noise suspiciously sounding like a muffled sob, and both reploids looked hard at the corner where it came from. Nothing followed, but it what was X seemed to need. Nothing was left of his tempered fury, and instead, a somber guilt took its place. Slowly, like any faster would startle something that could actually see him, X approached the shade and gently opened it to his sight. 

What he saw was a heartbreaking the making, the face he last saw before succumbing to the dark streaked with tears, half hidden behind drawn-up knees. But those large, blue eyes were on -him-, hurt and dazed and pained. In addition, there was an oddity dashed in the jumble: a sense of recognition. And when the child spoke, it could-- and would-- crush a heart of stone or ice. "...How can you be so mad?" 

X closed his eyes and teethed at his lip, as even more self-loathing guilt pummeled him hard. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "This just isn't my day for good graces. Can you forgive me, Rock?" 

The boy gave a mighty sniffle, and rubbed at his eyes. "Um, how did you know my name?" 

"....." X cast an exasperated look at Shaman. "How long has he been up and what have you been telling him?" 

The margay didn't bat an eye. "He's been awake for the last fifteen minutes, and I've been explaining to him about why he's feeling a rage that isn't his." 

_Oh bush bunnies._ X coughed. "You didn't even tell him where and /when/ he is?" 

"Never hinted at such a thing," Shaman replied. "But now, /you have/. It's all yours." 

The doctor barely flinched at the withering glare X shot him with, but did react with a lifted eyebrow when he mumbled, "Don't expect a holiday bonus this year." 

A pounding on the door interrupted the room, and a watered-down cry of, "X?! Shaman?? You in there??!" 

"Aesculapius," Shaman stated. "Do we let him in?" 

"He's buried just as deeply as we are," X said, sighing. "Do the honors?" 

"Gladly." In the same method used on X, the flaxed-haired reploid was yanked inside, the door closing on his tail; any slower and crawling fingers would have been caught in the jam. "We're going to have an awful time getting around our army of the living dead out there." 

"Yah think?!" Aesclad huffed, desperate to straighten out his locks. "You're lucky I was even able to find you. If it wasn't for the modern Resident Evil walk-ons, I would've spent the rest of this week and next trying to find-- well hello." Aesclad blinked at the owlish Rock. "It's our new pet, all live and kicking. You kinda took him a little fast there, Shaman." 

"I had to. You saw how fast the vultures were ready to pick at him." 

"I was kind of afraid it'd gotten to you too. Bio-signatures realigning? Big business and Nobel Peace Prize or some shit if it's proven." 

"Hardly." 

"Both of you!" X jerked his head at Rock. "Some other time, okay?" 

Their verbal submission to X's demand came to a sudden stop midway, as a vicious snarl cut through the air with every intention to maim. Aesculapius started with a yipe and threw himself to the other side of the room, and Shaman flew to Rock's counter, with Rock twisting around to peer over the side no one could see behind; Shaman echoed him. 

The growling didn't stop, and a titanium net-cage's bars began to rattle, with metal banging against metal. As if to say, 'I want out'. Rock reached behind it with one hand, and it was when his said, "_Koinu! Shizuka ni naru, onegai._" is when X couldn't take it. 

With an irate exhale, he too poked his head to look where that were, saying, "You can't tell me a 'puppy' would g--oh my god that's Gospel." 

The violet and white lupinoid was bound at the feet by shackles, like a wild pig hung on a stick for nomads to carry. His muzzle was also bound, adding to his annoyance, and the reason he was thrashing. This wolf was angry and trying to desperately save face from any more humiliation. But with Rock in view, he began to calm down; a familiar face among alien surroundings seemed to do wonders, and Rock cooed at him, telling Gospel it was alright. ....How /Rock/ knew it was alright was beyond them. 

While X shot an incredulous look of shock, Shaman gave X a pointed one in return. "You were told there were two. What else did you expect?" 

The hunter didn't answer, his mind churning at a sick and twisted speed, trying as hard as he could to swallow all the information that crashed down upon him. Gospel was here, Rock was here.... 

  
  
  


_This is real._

  
  
  
X wanted to cry, to retch, to scream and tear out his hair. Instead, he merely watched Rock-- with Shaman's assistance-- slowly release Gospel from his metallic tethers. Then, he straightened up and graced the self-isolating Aesclad with an expression the doctor couldn't clearly read, before his eyes rolled up into his head and succumbed to a darkness not unlike from earlier. 

His body didn't even hit the floor. 

**~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~**

In all the world's history and unhistory, nothing has been more elusive than the passage of that history. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, and millenniums; all lost in the moments is takes to snap one's fingers. Man has spent all His recent life trying to preserve history. Preserve time itself, because He's only barely grasped the concept that time is irreversible, that history is all we have, for without events to reflect on, Man can never truly learn. Nor would His story carry on for generations, a tale to spin when someone will finally listen to it. And laugh at all His silly endeavors. 

Time has been described as the intangible fourth dimension, one element in life that no creature can breach, let alone master. It flows in the speed of infinity, swifter than light, and as non-existent and consuming as space. It's truly the last frontier for the egotism of Man to attempt in conquering, as He's already camped Himself in the close quarters of space. 

So, if that's true.....who exactly just beat Him to the punch? 

**~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~**

Tears. Tears were falling into his eyes. Cold beads of water, falling onto him, trickling down his face in tiny rivers. He could see space, see endlessly, see all the colors of black and-- 

**X**

The noises that weren't noises, only soundless words popping up so often, why couldn't they just stop? 

**XXWAKEUPX**

He heard the first time! What do you-- 

  
  
"--want??" 

Two pairs of blue eyes were hovering over him to either side, hazily surrounded in gold, with grey as a third pair framed in sunlight directly above. 

"It's about time, you /idiot/!! Do you have ANY idea how worried I was?! Of course not!! You were too busy sleeping, you god damn basta-phn!" 

Alia effectively shoved her hand over Zero's mouth, muffling his would-be curses. "You have no right to yell at him." 

"Affell ff aye vntu oo shpit bick!" 

"And it's language like that that will not only get you kicked out of the medical wing," supplied Aesclad, "but on probation. Shame on you, Zero; with your record, I assumed you knew /how/ to handle women." 

X made a soft noise that wasn't quite a laugh, and not quite a snort; he heard them talking and watched them act, and spoke up in reflex, not entirely with it yet. "When's the last time he handled one anyway?" 

He didn't see Zero's jaw drop, with Aesclad now blocking his peripheral vision, but he could observe Alia as she, apparently, began working a crank in her mind, putting what X said to thought. "He's got a point. When /was/ the last time you had sex?" 

"That is hardly your business!" 

The blue-eyed ones bantered, and Aesculapius took full advantage of their distraction as he fused over checking X's receptions. "You fainted," he whispered. "I'm not surprised; Shaman said it was a delayed reaction and I agree with him. Feeling light-headed? Nauseous?" 

"No, m'fine. Where's Rock?" 

"Shaman's got both him and Gospel locked up in a board room. And before you ask, we have to keep Gospel loose. We discovered caging him only makes him violent, and even if we put him in the top security cells, he'd probably hurt himself. And it seems..." He trailed off for a minute, removing something-- _a towelette_-- from X's forehead, and finally looked him in the eye. "Strangely, despite being on extremes, Gospel refuses to leave Rock's side and domesticates himself in Rock's company, listening to his commands and such. Very curious behavior....for a machine specifically designed for one robot and one robot only." 

Pause. "Forte." 

"Exactly." Aesclad leaned back and took X's hand to help him sit up. "Shaman's called Signas so we can talk about it, once you're ready. ....And neither Signas nor they," he gestured to Zero and Alia with a cock of his head, "have any idea about Rock's existence, so...easy on the bombshell if it comes to it, kay?" 

_Not 'if',_ X mused tiredly, still feeling the grogginess from his second nap of the night. _'When'. It's all a matter of 'when'. When they ask, when Rock'll need his full-blown explanation, when Rock discovers he's merely a mini-version of myself, currently. ...But those eyes. _

_How can a hero have those eyes?_

X closed his eyes, took a breath, and opened them again. "Let's go." 

* * *

Upon re-emerging into their world, the first thing Dynamo had to say was, "Whoa. Headrush." 

Vlade greeted him with a vague wave, not even turning away from the giant monitor. "Fancy seeing you again," he said in an offhand manner. 

"Well, y'know, just makin' sure we're all set for part two of this jihad thing." He leapt to the ground and landed with a heavy thud onto his feet, casually saddling up to Vlade's side after a moment's recovery time. "Because if this thing fucks up, I ain't getting the finger pointed at me. So, what's Aster doing?" 

"Stuff." 

Dynamo raised an eyebrow and cocked his chin to the occupied seat before them. "You can't say 'stuff' when he's hooked up to the network like that. Come on, what's the old bucket of bolts got him doing?" 

Vlade shrugged a shoulder. "I haven't the slightest. He called up, said, 'Asterlite, give me a recon job and targeted positions.' Obviously, Aster knows what that means, 'cause he went in there without a word and has /been/ there for the last ten minutes." 

"Huh. ...'Ey." Dynamo frowned, and in an afterthought, started removing his helmet as he spoke. "How'd your job go? Nothing went wrong, right?" 

"Smooth as silk, not a hitch in the plan." Beneath his mask, Vlade made a half-smile; it was all for himself. "I even got to see the machine. Man, it's huge. It looked like a giant blender with wings or something, and the wings were still slowing down too. Very ingenious." 

"If you're calling a human work 'ingenious', then you /must've/ been impressed." Idly, Dynamo pushed his hair back over his shoulder with a sweep. "You've never say that, anymore, not since--" 

"Yeah, I know," Vlade cut in. "It's just that this might actually /work/ with her magic and their premonitions. The time shifter is a symbol that we /can/ trust their word, and now that our past has caught onto us, moreso then ever...we can believe there's a chance to live." 

".....Really believe that?" 

Pause. 

"Sorta. I'm still trying to convince myself. It's working, though. It's just really hard to put faith in a guy who's older than yourself by several years and had made some radical predictions, right up to the end." 

Dynamo snickered. "Yet you have no problem about a human living for almost a hundred years, looking like she did when...'That' happened, or any other crazy shit we can do that physics can't explain for crap? 

"Nope." 

"Hopeless." 

"Yup." 

"Coffee?" 

"Sure." 

* * *

The sound that rang through the chamber echoed from wall to wall in a volleyball fashion, soon falling into the quiet of wicked nothingness. Metal moved over leather, five silver fingers on the cover on a time-seen book caressing its newly found power, to turn the pages of ancient foretelling beneath the bindings of wood and parchment. 

It would be his victory, said one Voice from hell. 

It would be his righteous doom, said Another from heaven. 

He heard neither, but Knew that his army would be perfect in a short days' time. Because the pages never told him wrong. And he could not deny the oracles messages, even when he did not wonder how it was done. 

Sigma was he....and he would not fail. Because the Book would say so in due time. 

* * *

* * *

Huh, this day's never gonna end, is it? Last four chapters, started in the evening, now it's past midnight. Nope, never gonna end. Never...ever... It's like this story. Exactly...like this story. And wow, what in the world did I throw you?! *mock gasp* Horrors! 

It took my dear 14th review to make me move along faster. Danke RC2. :D You served your community well. *salute* 

Koinu = puppy  
Shizuka ni naru, onegai = Calm down, please (I hope; it's hard trying to figure out what you're given in a book) 


End file.
